YouTuber ‘PewDiePie’ Who Makes $4 Million A Year Off His Videos

FORBES — Watching other people play video games is growing increasingly popular these days. Sites like Twitch—where people can tune in to watch other people play games, eSports, and so forth—have exploded in popularity.

In fact, Twitch ranks fourth in peak US internet traffic, ahead of sites like Facebook and Amazon. If anyone doubted that video games were a spectator sport, that should be evidence enough to the contrary.

But revelations that YouTuber ‘PewDiePie’ is raking in $4 million a year for his gaming videos should hammer the nail home.

PewDiePie—Felix Kjellberg—plays games while talking, screaming, and swearing, and it’s earned him 27 million subscribers, more than established gaming channels like Machinima, which has just under 11.5 million.

According to the Wall Street Journal, ”The 24-year-old Mr. Kjellberg, who created PewDiePie five years ago, has parlayed his persona into a brand name that pulls in the equivalent of $4 million in ad sales a year, most of it pure profit.”

These are not polished videos by any means. Kjellberg has a shtick that apparently appeals to many, but will leave many more equally baffled or disgusted. But what he may lack in taste, PewDiePie makes up for with a knack for this brave new world of social media and interaction with his audience.

“Unlike many professionally produced shows, I think I’ve established a much closer contact with my viewers, breaking the wall between the viewer and what’s behind the screen,” he told the Wall Street Journal. “What I and other YouTubers do is a very different thing, it’s almost like hanging around and watching your pal play games. My fans care in a different way about what they are watching.”